Dutch Ethical Policy
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The political character of colonial Indonesia changed greatly during the four decades of the 20th century from 1901 and ending with the Japanese Occupation of Indonesia in 1942. In 1901, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina announced that the Netherlands accepted an ethical responsibility for the welfare of their Indonesian subjects. This announcement was a sharp contrast with the former official doctrine that Indonesia was a wingewest (region for making profit). It also marked the start of modern development policy; whereas other colonial powers talked of a civilizing mission, which mainly involved spreading their culture to colonized peoples, the Dutch Ethical Policy (‘Ethische Politiek’) emphasised improvement in material living conditions. The policy suffered, however, from serious underfunding, inflated expectations and lack of acceptance in the Dutch colonial establishment, and it had largely ceased to exist by the onset of the Great Depression in 1930.[1] [2]
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[edit] Formulation of the Dutch Ethical Policy
In 1899, the liberal Dutch Lawyer Conrad Théodoor van Deventer published an essay in the Dutch journal De Gids which claimed that the Colonial Government had a moral responsibility to return the wealth that the Dutch had received from the East Indies to the indigenous population. At around the same time, Pieter Brooshooft, a journalist with the Semarang-based De Locomotief newspaper published articles about the need for an Ethical Policy to improve the welfare of the native peoples. The Ethical Policy and the ideas it reflected were a response to the so-called batig slot, under which a 'surplus' was transferred each year to the Dutch government from the colonial treasury. Proponents of the Ethical Policy argued that financial transfers should not be made to Holland while conditions for the indigenous peoples of the archipelago were poor.
[edit] Aims
The supporters of the Ethical Policy were concerned about the social and cultural conditions holding back the native population. They tried to raise awareness among the natives of the need to free themselves from the fetters of the feudal system and to develop themselves along Western lines.
On 17 September 1901, in a formal speech to parliament, the newly crowned Queen Wilhelmina formally articulated the new policy - that the Dutch Government had a moral obligation to the native people of the Dutch East Indies that could be summarised in the 'Three Policies' of Irrigation, Transmigration and Education.
[edit] Irrigation
The Ethical Policy promoted efforts to improve the lot of the ordinary people through irrigation programmes, the introduction of banking services for the native population, and subsidies for native industries and handicrafts.
[edit] Migration
The Ethical Policy first introduced the concept of transmigration from over-populated Java to the less densely populated areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan, beginning with government-sponsored schemes from 1905 onwards. However the numbers of people moved during the period of the Ethical Policy was a tiny fraction of the increase in population in Java during the same period.
[edit] Education
The opening of Western education to indigenous Indonesians only begun at the beginning of the twentieth century; in 1900, only 1,500 went to European schools compared to 13,000 Europeans. By 1928, however, 75,000 Indonesians had completed Western primary education and nearly 6,500 secondary school, although this was still a tiny proportion of the population.[3] JH Abendanon (1852–1925) was the Minister for Culture, Religion and Industry from 1900 to 1905 when schools were built for both the nobility and ordinary people in almost every region.[citation needed]
[edit] Assessment of the Policy
The Ethical Policy was the first serious effort to create programmes for economic development in the tropics. It differed from the "civilizing mission" of other colonial powers in emphasising material welfare rather than a transfer of culture. The educational component of the Policy was mainly technical; it did not aim at creating brown Dutchmen and women. The Policy foundered on two problems. First, the budgets allocated to the Policy's programmes were never sufficient to achieve its aims, with the result that many colonial officials became disillusioned with the possibility of achieving lasting progress. The financial stringencies of the Great Depression put a definitive end to the Policy. Second, the educational programmes of the Policy contributed significantly to the Indonesian National Revival, giving Indonesians the intellectual tools to organize and to articulate their objections to colonial rule. As a result, many in the colonial establishment saw the Ethical Policy as a mistake that was counter to Dutch interests.[4]
[edit] See also
- History of Indonesia
- Indonesian National Revolution
- Dutch East Indies
- Dutch Empire
- Cultivation System
[edit] References
[edit] General references and further reading
- Robert Cribb, 'Development policy in the early 20th century', in Jan-Paul Dirkse, Frans Hüsken and Mario Rutten, eds, Development and social welfare: Indonesia’s experiences under the New Order (Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1993), pp. 225-245.[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Robert Cribb, 'Development policy in the early 20th century', in Jan-Paul Dirkse, Frans Hüsken and Mario Rutten, eds, Development and social welfare: Indonesia’s experiences under the New Order (Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1993), pp. 225-245.
- ^ Ricklefs, M.C. (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300. London: MacMillan, p.151. ISBN 0-33-579690-X.
- ^ Vickers, Adrian (2005). A History of Modern Indonesia. Cambridge University Press, p.40. ISBN 0-521-54262-6.
- ^ Robert Cribb, 'Development policy in the early 20th century', in Jan-Paul Dirkse, Frans Hüsken and Mario Rutten, eds, Development and social welfare: Indonesia’s experiences under the New Order (Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1993), pp. 225-245.
